A POPULAR Worcester music night provided the perfect setting for a food company's new television advert.

Organisers of Worcester Soul All-Nighter, a Northern Soul music night which runs throughout the year at the University of Worcester's Pear Tree student bar, were approached by Nestle in November last year, who wanted to film their latest advert at the event.

The advert for Shredded Wheat — called Dave's Story — is on television now and tells the story of a fan of Northern Soul— heavy-beat, fast-tempo American soul music — who enjoys a healthy lifestyle which allows him to keep dancing at the soul nights.

John Ambler, who co-ordinates the music night, said it was "great" to see the event featured on TV.

"Producers approached us to see if they could come to our event to film, although we didn't know what they were filming," he said.

"We said yes, we were quite happy to do that. So in November a crew came along with a few cast members, and they were filming from about 7pm until midnight. They just filmed some of their cast dancing, and it was interesting to see them and great to see the advert on television, although you wouldn't really know it was filmed at our event."

Mr Ambler, who lives in the Rainbow Hill area of Worcester, has been helping to organise the events at the university since May last year, and he says they are growing in popularity.

"I got in to Northern Soul in the 1970s and have been involved in the scene ever since. Back then, Worcester was a huge soul centre, with various clubs and music nights. Places like the Château Impney, the Abbey in Malvern and the Bank House in Bransford used to have lots of bands playing," he said.

"Over the years there have been some music nights here and there, but we really wanted to get something regular set up. Now we hold nights at the university and they are absolutely fantastic. We have an event on Saturday and we are expecting around 200 to 300 people to come, but that grows every month.

"I think Northern Soul is going through a bit of a renaissance at the moment, what with last year's film, Northern Soul, which hit cinemas and a number of radio DJs playing more and more Northern Soul music. I think it's great. I want it to keep going, and we really need more kids to get involved to keep it fresh and alive."

Anyone interested in attending the music nights at the university can search for Worcester Soul All-Nighter on Facebook.

To view the advert, search for Shredded Wheat Dave's Story on Youtube.